Youths responsible for disorder in London’s Oxford Street must be “hunted down” by police, the Home Secretary said on Thursday.
Suella Braverman called for the ringleaders behind the chaotic scenes to be “locked up” as she warned that the UK cannot be allowed to plunge into the “lawlessness” seen in some American cities.
Hundreds of teenagers descended on the West End from 3pm on Wednesday after a video calling for a JD Sports shop to be looted went viral on social media app Tik Tok.
Sharing footage of police making arrests, the Home Secretary tweeted: “We cannot allow the kind of lawlessness seen in some American cities to come to the streets of the UK. The police have my full backing to do whatever is necessary to ensure public order.
“Those responsible must be hunted down and locked up. I expect nothing less from the [Metropolitan Police] and have requested a full incident report.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told the Standard that the scenes were “completely unacceptable” and that “police investigations continue”.
The Met was forced to launch a high-profile operation to protect stores in the world-famous shopping district.
A “significant number” of officers were deployed and a dispersal order was put in place around several busy streets.
Some shops closed and put shutters down as groups of youths travelled to the area when a “shoplifting” event was advertised on TikTok and Snapchat.
Goodge Street and Warren Street stations were temporarily shut at the request of police, Transport for London said.
At least nine people were arrested. Posts online promoting an organised “robbery”, with a date, time and dress code, were captioned: “Don’t come if you can’t run.”
People were urged to wear balaclavas and gloves but not bring weapons.
TikTok prankster Mizzy was among those who were stopped and searched in Oxford Street. He insisted he had “nothing to do” with the riots.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Khan had urged people not to take part and decried the “nonsense” circulating on social media.
On Thursday, he said: “What happened on Oxford Street evening was completely unacceptable.
“Nine arrests have been made and police investigations continue.
“I want to thank the police for managing large and unpredictable crowds and working with partners to help keep the public safe.”
The disorder reportedly began when a group of teenagers gathered outside the Microsoft Experience Centre in Regent Street.
Reports of young people “looting” were dismissed by police.
A City of Westminster police spokesman said: “Throughout Wednesday, officers maintained a high-visibility presence within the Oxford Street area.
“Four people were arrested on suspicion of breaching the dispersal order, one person was arrested on suspicion of going equipped to steal, one person arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and one person was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence.
“Earlier in the afternoon, officers arrested two people in Essex for conspiracy to commit robbery following online social media posts.”
One 17-year-old, who was visiting Oxford Street to do some shopping branded the organisers as “stupid”.
“It’s quite silly but I’m glad the police are here. It’s good that they’ve caught on to it. I think it’s a stupid idea, to put that on social media regardless.”
